USS Halyburton sailors receive jubilant homecoming

MAYPORT, Fla. -- More than 200 sailors were greeted by hundreds of friends and family as the USS Halyburton returned home Saturday morning from its six-month deployment overseas.

Six fathers aboard the frigate were finally able to hold their newborns for the first time after getting off the ship. Those six fathers were: Timothy Johnson, David Hill, Alain Pepe, Reginald Abernathy, Erick Sewell. Terry Jackson, a first-time grandfather, was also able to see his new grandchild.

During the emotional homecoming a sailor, Dustin Fort, proposed to his girlfriend Amy Williams just seconds after greeting her onshore. She said yes.

While on deployment in the Mediterranean Sea sailors aboard the Halyburton participated in community relations projects at orphanages in Taragona, Spain: Djibouti, and Souda Bay, Crete, according to a release from Williams Townsend, Naval Station Mayport public affairs officer. The ship also traveled to the Persian Gulf before coming back to its homeport of Naval Station Mayport.